Hotel Memling hosts conferences of up to 210 people theatre style and banquets of up to 290 when the Virunga room opens onto its foyer, with 180 rooms and suites upstairs. The five-star hotel stands in Gombe, the business and diplomatic district of Kinshasa, a short walk from the Boulevard du 30 Juin.
Seminars and company events
The meeting floor has six modular rooms from 30 to 238 square meters, several of which divide into halves, plus a VIP room and a terrace. Each room comes with an LCD projector and a fixed or mobile screen, a sound system, a CD and DVD player, standard, table and wireless microphones and laser pointers. The hotel plans banquets and dinners with the chef, who advises on menus. Free, secured parking is lit and guarded around the clock, which counts for events that bring drivers and delegations. Delegates staying several days can use the outdoor pool, the 24-hour gym and the bar.
Weddings and receptions
Civil and religious weddings are held here. Receptions take place in the Virunga room or the foyer depending on numbers, and civil ceremonies can move to the lawn overlooking the foyer in good weather. Decoration themes, lighting effects and music can be arranged. Guests traveling from abroad can stay in the hotel.
Rooms and capacities
Virunga, the largest room, covers 238 square meters under a 4 m ceiling: 210 theatre style, 130 in conference layout, 100 classroom, 90 in a U and 220 for a banquet. It divides into Virunga I and II, each taking 80 theatre style or 60 for dinner. Combined with the 280 square meter foyer, it reaches 290 for a banquet. Salonga, at 82 square meters, takes 60 theatre style or 50 for dinner and splits into two rooms of 41 square meters. Maiko, at 30 square meters, suits a committee of up to 15. The VIP 1 room seats 10, and the terrace takes 100 theatre style or 80 for dinner.
Accommodation
The hotel has 180 rooms and suites, including 19 junior suites and 2 presidential suites, so a whole conference can sleep on site.
Catering
Two restaurants, La Brasserie and Mangoustan, and the Cockpit bar with a lounge terrace open until midnight serve hotel guests. For events, the kitchen offers cocktails, cold or hot buffets and full menus with an international wine list. It also caters off site for groups of 30 or more, with buffets or walking dinners.
History and setting
The Belgian airline Sabena built the hotel in 1937 for passengers traveling between Belgium and Léopoldville, as Kinshasa was then called. The first wing had 38 rooms, and new wings followed in 1955 and 1963. After independence it became the flagship of the Compagnie des Grands Hôtels Africains. A renovation between 1985 and 1994 brought it to its present 180 rooms, and it reopened with five stars on September 24, 1994. The name honors the 15th-century Flemish painter Hans Memling.
Getting there
N'djili International Airport is about 23 km away, and the hotel runs an airport shuttle. The botanical garden is 600 m away, the central market about 1 km, and the Ngobila ferry port, for crossings to Brazzaville, 1.5 km.